heading-home

Published
December 2, 2018

Judith Robbins: ‘Now I was the mother’

Three of my kids and I were driving down I-95 on our way to Shrewsbury, Mass., to visit my mother, their grandmother, whom they called Mummu, a reflection of her Finnish heritage. As we crossed the Piscataqua River bridge and saw the sign welcoming us to New Hampshire, the level of excitement rose. We were […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Victoria Chanani: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the long road to America

My ambition to live in the United States comes from my childhood. Many reasons forced people to change their home. In my case, nothing pushed me to leave home. People often ask me why I chose America and a U.S. citizen as my husband. I simply answer that I fell in love with my husband, […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Monique Coombs, Orr’s Island: Lobsterman’s wife

My husband gets up around 4 a.m. to go lobstering on days that the weather allows. By 5 o’clock, he’s down at the boat and headed out of the cove, well before I’m getting out of bed and getting the kids ready for school. Once the kids are off, I head to work myself. I […]
Published
December 2, 2018

‘Home’ can be delivered to your doorstep every morning

There are all kinds of home. There’s the home you enjoy without thought when you’re a kid, the first apartment you decorate alone, and the house you share later on with those you love. If you’re lucky, you’ll have more than one home at a time – a job that feels just right, and a […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Steve Saunders, Wayne: Where you go to figure out what’s going on

My father enlisted late in World War II and by the time his troopship arrived in the Philippines, the war was all but over. He spent about six months there, saw no conflict and returned home to Maine with a few souvenir Japanese swords and a bad case of malaria. Before he arrived home, my […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Amanda A. Meader: Home is a place to say hello and goodbye

I was 9 when I first realized that my father was being eaten alive by the monster of addiction. By age 16, my parents had divorced after 20 years of marriage. Contact with my father was sporadic over the next decade, and of decreasing frequency. At one point I had not seen my father in […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Larry Dyhrberg, Falmouth: A song calls a stranger home

In 1994, in the wake of major life changes, I fulfilled a dream I’d held since 1963 and volunteered for the United States Peace Corps. My deep belief in the Corps and the trust shown me in the selection process laid my path to Poland, four years after the Berlin Wall fell. After training, I […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Molly Young, Portland: One encounter, two experiences

It was two o’clock in the morning and I was tired, lonely. I was supposed to be staying in a Washington D.C. hostel that had bedbugs the size of cats, but in the middle of a humid night, I figured I’d be more comfortable waiting for my 4:30 a.m. train in a cracked, plastic chair […]
Published
December 2, 2018

David Alexander, Gorham: Driving into the past

I turned onto the River Road, near the Boothbay Play House. My good friend Dick spent summers there back in the ’50s looking for a career in acting. River Road parallels the Damariscotta River, narrow, hilly, winding but without a view of the river. Access roads lead down to expensive homes, Dodge Point Preserve offers […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Christ Mavi Bafouana Mpandzou, Portland: A journey of joy, if only in imagination

I was born and grew up in Congo-Brazzaville, a country located in Central Africa. It has been three years since I have left my country in difficult conditions. I had to move for safety reasons and, I am currently living peacefully in the United States. I always remember that day of October 24, 2015 standing […]